Women's Soccer Suffers First Loss of Season with 2-1 Defeat at Lenoir-Rhyne

MISENHEIMER, N.C. – Pfeiffer University managed their third-straight night of a few shots and fewer shots on goal, this time, it resulted in the first loss of the season. Using 21 shots, 11 on goal, the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears scored a 2-1 victory over the Lady Falcons on Wednesday night. Pfeiffer managed seven total shots, three on frame, in the road defeat. Lenoir-Rhyne improves to 2-1 along with the Lady Falcons.

Dana Hillmann (Berlin, GERMANY) put the host Bears on the board at the 12:22 point of the first half scoring directly from a corner kick. From a ball deflected out of bounds by the Lady Falcons on their end line, Hillmann teed up her corner attempt that bent in the cage for the game’s first tally.

Just before the half, senior Megan Reaves (Mims, FL) made up for an earlier mistake and blocked shot to even the match at one. After Reaves was issued a yellow card and had her first shot of the night blocked by a member of the Bears defense, the forward came right back finding the nylon with just 90 seconds left in the period for a 1-1 contest at the half.

The deciding goal came in the 57th minute as Lenoir-Rhyne’s Mariel Mena (Gainesville, FL) cashed in on a rebounded shot attempt by teammate Elizabeth Hawes (Valdese, NC). After Hawes’ shot was blocked by a Falcon defender, Mena found herself in the right place at the right time notching the eventual game-winner.

Pfeiffer had one last shot at the buzzer as Alyssa Wombwell (Grand Blanc, MI) fired a shot on goal, only to have it end up as the one and only save of the half by Bears goalkeeper Rebecca Ingram (Buford, GA). Ingram relieved starter Caitlin Scruggs (Torrance, CA) who notched a save in her first half of play. Pfeiffer net minder Jamie Alcala (Fredericksburg, VA) made a season-high nine saves in the loss.

The Lady Falcons will return to Misenheimer playing in their first home game of 2010 hosting nationally-ranked Columbus State on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m. with the eighth-ranked Cougars. Live stats will be available through the Falcons Athletics website at www.gofalconsports.com.